Stoke v Man City FA Cup Betting Odds, Preview and Predictions

Struggling Stoke with FA Cup hopes at the Britannia

23rd January 2013 / Lee A Jackson

Stoke v Man City Betting Preview
The Potters will look to find a bit of refuge in the FA Cup, as their Premier League form has taken a nose dive. Tony Pulis’s men have taken three defeats on the bounce now and even their long home unbeaten stand was breached recently. That should put Manchester City in the driving seat for this all Premier League FA Cup 4th round clash. The two sides did battle out a 1-1 draw earlier in the league season at the Britannia, so will it be a game of narrow margins for the two sides?

Stoke v Man City Recommended Bet:
The lack of goals in the Stoke setup have been costing them badly lately in their league endeavours. Stoke have slipped to three defeats in a row and have only managed one goal in that run. One of those defeats was a 3-0 defeat at the Etihad against Man City but perhaps more worryingly for Tony Pulis is that the strength of Stoke, their defence, has crumbled. They have conceded a massive ten goals in their last three Premier League games so a clean sheet against the Premier League champions is looking unlikely at the moment.

This is a repeat of the 2011 FA Cup final, which was won 1-0 by Man City but the Potters have a decent home run in the tournament. The Potters are unbeaten in nine FA Cup games at the Britannia, winning seven of them, and during that run Stoke knocked City out back in 2010. This is the eighth time that the two clubs have been drawn together, with the Potters only winning out on three occasions. On the balance of their recent results, Stoke are rightly underdogs. They are struggling for goals and they needed a replay in the third round to get past Championship side Crystal Palace. Still, Stoke have lost just that one game at the Britannia this season and they will make City work hard for any spoils that the visitors will get.

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City themselves have turned a bit of a corner, picking up their winning form. They have started striking at a more frequent rate and the big difference to their season is that they are rolling out clean sheets. They have kept three clean sheets in a row in the Premier League heading into this FA Cup fourth round tie, having won six of their last seven. So a definite upswing in form and confidence from City, but they of course will have a bigger target of retaining their Premier League title, especially after leaders Man United were denied three points by Spurs last weekend. In all competitions, Man City are on a five match winning streak, netting fourteen goals and conceding just three.

Their away form in the FA Cup isn’t terrific though, and that may be something to pay attention to for your FA Cup. The Citizens have only managed to win two of their last eight on the road in the FA Cup, drawing three and losing three. So that may be a glimmer of hope for the Potters. However, Manchester City are unbeaten in the last seven against Stoke City, but four of those games were at the Britannia, where City produced just one win and three draws.

Given the history and stats behind the two sides in the FA Cup, there may be a bit of value in backing a draw in this one. City will be favourites of course because of their higher quality up front, and therefore a Man City -0.75 Asian Handicap does look a bit of value for Evens at online bookmaker Paddy Power.

Form
Stoke DLDLDL, Man City LWWWW

Stat Attack
This is the eighth FA Cup meeting between the two sides, City having progressed 4 times
Stoke are unbeaten in 9 FA Cup matches at the Britannia
Manchester City are on a five matches winning streak, conceding just three goals
City have won just two of the last eight FA Cup away matches
Three of the last four meetings at the Britannia have ended in a draw

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